United stumbles in Van Gaal's debut

Manchester, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Louis van Gaal's tenure as Manchester United manager got off to a rocky start on Saturday as the Red Devils suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Swansea City at Old Trafford.

After a disastrous season last term under David Moyes which saw Moyes
dismissed late in the campaign and the club finish seventh in the table and
miss out on Champions League qualification, United brought Van Gaal on board
to restore the club to its former glory.

But it was the visitors that took the lead in the 28th minute when Gylfi
Sigurdsson squared it to Ki Sung-Yueng at the top of the box, and the South
Korea international fired it past United goalkeeper David De Gea into the
bottom right corner, sending the 75,000-plus in attendance into a stunned
silence.

But United drew level in the 53rd minute when Phil Jones climbed well to flick
on Juan Mata's corner kick and Wayne Rooney acrobatically swept the ball past
Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with an excellent overhead strike.

But the Swans went back in front with 18 minutes to play with a bit of luck as
Wayne Routledge mis-hit a cross from new man Jefferson Montero, but the ball
fell to the feet of Sigurdsson, who chipped it over the head of De Gea to give
his side the lead.

United pressed forward looking for an equalizer, but it never
materialized as referee Mike Dean blew for full time after four extra minutes,
making Van Gaal the first Manchester United manager to lose at home on the
opening day of a Premier League season.

Everton 2, Leicester City 2

Leicester, England - Newly-promoted Leicester City earned an impressive point
in its first Premier League match on Saturday as a late goal from Chris Wood
gave the Foxes a 2-2 draw against Everton at the King Power Stadium.

Aiden McGeady opened the scoring for Everton after 20 minutes with a fantastic
strike into the top corner, leaving Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel
with no chance for a save.

But the Foxes equalized two minutes later through Jose Ulloa, who fired past
Tim Howard from close range.

Everton went back in front on the stroke of halftime as Steven Naismith beat
Schmeichel with a stellar strike off the underside of the crossbar.

But Roberto Martinez's side failed to hold the lead as Wood came off the bench
to score the equalizer. Eight of the last 10 Premier League meetings between
these sides have now ended all square.

Arsenal 2, Crystal Palace 1

London, England - Aaron Ramsey scored in stoppage time on Saturday to help
Arsenal claim a 2-1 opening-day win over Crystal Palace at the Emirates
Stadium.

Arsenal splashed the cash in the offseason to being in Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu
Debuchy and Calum Chambers, but it was the visiting side that took the early
lead in the 35th minute.

New signing Brede Hangeland got his head to a corner kick at the near post and
headed Palace into an unlikely lead. But the Gunners found an equalizer on the
stroke of halftime through defender Laurent Kocielny.

Things went south for Palace late on as Jason Puncheon was shown a second
yellow card and sent off in the 89th minute and Ramsey was on the doorstep
moments later following a corner kick to smash home the winning goal for
Arsene Wenger's club.

Hull City 1, QPR 0

London, England - Queens Park Rangers marked its return to the Premier League
with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Hull City on Saturday at Loftus Road.

After returning to the Premier League this season following a playoff victory
over Derby County last season, QPR was up for the occasion and had the better
of the play for most of the 90 minutes.

The Hoops fired six attempts on target and controlled 51 percent of the ball,
but QPR was undone in the 52nd minute via a set piece as James Chester got on
the end of a corner kick from Stephen Quinn and nodded it past goalkeeper
Robert Green for the only tally of the day.

QPR had a brilliant opportunity to equalize late on as Charlie Austin stepped
to the spot in the 84th minute, but failed to convert and Hull walked away
with all three points.

Aston Villa 1, Stoke City 0

Stoke-on-Trent, England - Andreas Weimann's second-half goal held up as the
winner on Saturday as Aston claimed an opening-day 1-0 victory over Stoke City
at the Britannia Stadium.

Villa conceded possession to Stoke for much of the match as the Potters kept
over 60 percent of the ball, but it was the visitors that struck for the
game's only goal five minutes into the second half when Weimann let a strike
go from the right side of the box that beat Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to
the bottom left corner.

The hosts pushed for a late equalizer in front of the home crowd, but it never
came and Paul Lambert's side came away with all three points.

West Bromwich 2, Sunderland 2

West Bromwich, England - West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland played to an
exciting 2-2 draw in the Premier League opener for both clubs on Saturday at
the Hawthorns.

Sunderland grabbed the lead after just five minutes when Lee Cattermole
blasted one from outside the penalty area that beat West Brom goalkeeper Ben
Foster.

But the hosts drew level three minutes before the intermission when Saido
Berahino converted a penalty kick. Berahinho then gave the Baggies the lead in
the 74th minute when he bagged his second goal of the day.

West Brom could not hold the lead, however, as Sebastian Larsson scored five
minutes from time to rescue a point for Sunderland.

Tottenham 1, West Ham 0

London, England - Eric Dier's strike in stoppage time handed Tottenham-Hotspur
a 1-0 win over West Ham United on Saturday at Upton Park in manager Mauricio
Pochettino's debut with the north London club.

After a sixth-place finish last term, Spurs brought in Pochettino hoping to
inject a bit of style into their play, but things started poorly for Tottenham
as defender Kyle Naughton was sent off in the 29th minute.

Mark Noble missed the ensuing penalty kick for West Ham as the clubs went into
the break scoreless.

The Hammers also went down to 10 men in the 63rd minute after James Collins
was shown a second yellow card, and it looked like the match was destined to
end without a goal.

But Dier came through just in time as he ran onto a nice through ball from
youngster Harry Kane and fired it past Hammers goalkeeper Adrian for the
winning strike.